Dr. John Britton Murdered (1994)

Fri Jul 29, 1994

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Image: Dr. John Britton with the .357 Magnum he carried for protection when visiting the Pensacola Ladies’ Centre to perform abortions, 1993 [rarehistoricalphotos.com]

On this day in 1994, Dr. John Britton was murdered by a far-right anti-abortionist in Pensacola, Florida. Britton, who had replaced Dr. David Gunn after he was murdered the previous year, had armed himself after receiving death threats.

After Gunn’s assassination by an anti-abortionist, Dr. Britton began flying across the state of Florida to Pensacola weekly in order to perform abortions at the Pensacola Ladies’ Center. He continued to provide abortions even after receiving harassment and death threats, and began wearing a homemade bulletproof vest, carrying a .357 Magnum, and enlisted volunteer bodyguards to protect himself.

As Britton arrived at the clinic on July 29th, 1994, an anti-abortionist shot him dead with a twelve-gauge shotgun. The assassin also killed Britton’s bodyguard, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel James Barrett (aged 74), and wounded Barrett’s wife, June, a retired nurse.

Britton’s killer became the first American executed for assassinating a doctor who was providing abortion services.

  • elbucho@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    3 months ago

    Jesus. What a fucking hero Dr. Britton was. He was painfully aware of how vulnerable he was to sectarian violence, and yet instead of backing off and doing something less likely to incur the wrath of idiotic religious mouth breathers, he made himself a “bullet-proof” vest, started carrying a gun, got himself a body guard, and kept diligently working to ensure that women were able to exercise their constitutionally protected choice. Fucking hero.

    • phdepressed
      9·
      3 months ago

      They’ve won a big battle but Human rights are forever at war and lost territory can be regained if we don’t give up.